


Raise Your Wands

by BabyAce



Category: K-pop, Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Brotherhood, Dark Magic, Dreams and Nightmares, Fantasy, Friendship, Gen, Gryffindor, Gryffindor/Slytherin Inter-House Relationships, Hufflepuff, M/M, Magic, Mystery, Ravenclaw, Shy Yang Jeongin | I.N, Slytherin, War, Yang Jeongin | I.N-centric, cute maknae jeongin, protective leader chan, seungmin bothering jeongin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-21
Updated: 2018-11-27
Packaged: 2019-05-26 15:45:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15004112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BabyAce/pseuds/BabyAce
Summary: Once Jeongin finally gets his long awaited letter from Hogwarts he is beyond excited and, of course, nervous. He is sure he's going to enjoy every second of learning magic, but as he starts getting strange, reaccuring dreams he isn't so sure anymore. Why does he get these strange dreams, and why do they come true? Is the war he keeps dreaming about going to come true like the rest of his dreams have done? Alongside his eight brothers he tries to stop the war from happening, before it's too late.





	1. September 1.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for clicking on this story of mine. I decided to put two of my favourite things together, Stray Kids and Harry Potter, and the result was this.
> 
> If you like this story I would appreciate it if you left a Kudos and a comment. Thank you very much!
> 
> Enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We get to meet Jeongin as he is going to Hogwarts, and learn a bit about his backstory.

Darkness. Darkness is all he sees. He feels cold. He spins around, trying to locate himself, but he can see nothing more than the darkness surrounding him. “Hello?” he yells into the void. He hears his voice echo, but there is no response. Jeongin takes a few hesitant steps forward. He can now see his own breath escaping from his trembling mouth, rising upwards until it vaporizes. The sounds coming from his footsteps bounces around, sounding almost as if there is a whole army walking up behind him. But there is only him.

Or is it?

Jeongin stops in his tracks, trying to quiet down his tremulous breathing so that he can listen. It is hard to tell with the beat of his heart surging in his ears, but he thinks he can hear faint footsteps, which are not his own. Jeongin tenses up, trying to locate where the footsteps are coming from, but the echoing prevents him from hearing which direction the source is coming from. The footsteps keeps getting louder, and louder by the second, and Jeongin feels the panic rise inside him. He manages to turn around, only to see a mob of black-hooded people- more like creatures- stalk towards him. Jeongin tries to run away, but he cannot move.

He looks down, only to see that his feet are stuck in some kind of black, unrecognisable, matter. Jeongin’s heart is in his throat, his gaze flickering from his feet to the hooded men. The footsteps grows even louder, and it sounds like it comes from another direction as well. Jeongin turns his head as best as he can, and sees that there’s another mob of hooded men coming towards him, only these men are dressed in red cloaks. A colour that reminds him of blood.

Jeongin turns back to look at the black mob, seeing that they are all simultaneously drawing their wands out from their cloaks. They are close to him now, and he can now see their faces, except they don’t have any. All Jeongin can see from underneath their hoods is darkness, void. He turns to look at the men in red, seeing how they have drawn their wands as well, and are much closer to him now than they were before. Jeongin knows that if he doesn’t get out of the way he’s going to get in the middle of everything.

Just as Jeongin is about to make his last attempt to free his feet from the black, sticky matter, the black hooded men’s wands all starts glowing, and Jeongin barely has the time to react before all he sees is a bright green light, a faint, blood-chilling scream coming from somewhere in the distance.

 

 

Jeongin sits upright in his bed, trying to catch his breath. His hair is clinging to his sticky forehead, his chest rising and falling hastily. Jeongin looks around, recognising the faint lilac colour of his walls, and the polaroid pictures he has hung up on the bulletin board above his desk. His desk, which usually is white and neatly cleaned, is at the time covered with clutter, books, and litter from the night before when Jeongin had tried to prepare for today.

Jeongin sighs and rubs his face with his clammy hands, remembering that today is the day. He is just about to put on his glasses when his mum bursts into the room, scrunching her nose in disgust once she sees the mess in her son’s room. “Jeongin-ah, time to get up.” she says, standing in the door frame, looking as if she’s afraid to enter the room. “And clean this up, will you?” and with that, she closes to door. Jeongin stares at the door, hearing his mother’s footsteps walking down the stairs, being well aware of the day. How could he forget?

With a tired groan he flings his feet over the bed, feeling the cool floor underneath his soles. He reaches over to his nightstand and picks up his round glasses, putting them on as he stands up. Jeongin gets dressed into a bright yellow hoodie and some basic black, skinny jeans, knowing that it won’t really matter what he’s wearing as he is gonna have to get changed later during the day.

Just as he is about to head down the stairs, to the kitchen, he remembers how he has forgotten the most important thing of all. Jeongin turns around and walks over to his desk, rummaging through the mess to find his necklace. He finds it under a banana peel, and he scrunches his nose in disgust, much like his mother had done, and agrees with her. He really does need to clean his room.

“Jeongin-ah!” he hears his mum call from downstairs. “Breakfast is ready! Hurry up!” “Coming!” Jeongin answers, throwing on his silver necklace. He throws a last glance at his room, promising himself that he’s going to clean after he has eaten.

* * *

 

“Are you nervous?” Jeongin’s father asks as they are washing the dishes from breakfast. “I don’t know,” Jeongin shrugs, handing his father the last washed plate. “A little bit, I suppose.”

“You’ll be fine, son, don’t you worry.” his father places a hand on Jeongin’s head and ruffles his hair. You’re already wearing your house colours.” Jeongin looks down at his outfit, despite knowing what he put on earlier this morning. “How do you know I’ll get into Hufflepuff?” Jeongin asks his father, turning off the faucet and drying his hands on the towel hanging by the stove.

His father laughs, looking over at Jeongin. “Son, you are as much of a Hufflepuff as a Hufflepuff can get.” he walks over to Jeongin and places his hands on his shoulders. “I’m so proud of you, Jeongin-ah.” Jeongin looks up at his father, furrowing his eyebrows. “What? Why?” Jeongin asks, not being able to recall anything in particular that he has done. “I haven’t done anything?”

“You haven’t done anything?” his father repeats, looking at Jeongin with raised eyebrows. “Jeongin-ah, you’re a half-blood, and despite my family being pure-blood, and your grandparents continuing to insult muggles, you have always embraced both parts of yourself. That is why I’m proud of you, and I know your mother is as well.”

Jeongin thought about his grandparents, and how his dad had fallen out with them years ago. Jeongin was only five when they had had their huge fight, but he remembers it like it was just yesterday. They had been visiting them over the summer, out on the countryside, and his grandmother had started picking on Jeongin’s father for marrying a muggle. It wasn’t his grandmother’s intention for Jeongin to hear, she didn’t know that Jeongin was sitting in the cupboard, playing hide-and-seek. His grandmother had started slandering his mother, saying really bad things about her, and Jeongin’s father had reacted quite violently, for being a Hufflepuff. Since that fight, his family has had no contact at all with his grandparents, and it seems to be for the better. His parents seem happier this way. 

“Thanks, I guess.” Jeongin responds to his father, feeling a little bit overwhelmed by the sudden love. Not that Jeongin wasn’t used to it, his family has always been very loving and supporting, but this day felt different. Jeongin guesses it’s because of the nerves.

“Jeongin-ah, have you cleaned your room yet?” his mum asks as she walks into the kitchen. She takes off her straw hat, and places it on the counter, along with her gardening gloves. She walks up to her husband and snakes an arm around his waist. His parents looks at each other, exchanging smiles. “I was just about to.” Jeongin says, and nods quickly before turning to go back to his room.

“Hello, Bob.” Jeongin greets his toad as he enters his room. “Are you ready for today? It’s going to be a big step, I can understand why you are nervous. It’s okay.” he talks to his pet, picking him up from where he was sitting on Jeongin’s drawer. Bob gives off a little croak, making Jeongin smile. “You will probably get loads of new friends while we’re there.” his voice trails a little bit. “Hopefully I will, too.” he sighs and puts his toad down on the drawer again. He turns around and looks at his room, trying to decide where he was going to start. Jeongin decides to start cleaning up all the litter on his desk. He runs down the stairs to get trash bag, but as he picks up the black plastic bag he hears faint voices coming from the garden.

He recognises his father’s deep voice, and the melodic voice of his mother, only, her voice sounds different, it sounds as if she is crying. Jeongin sneaks closer to the door, trying to hear what his parents are talking about.

“I just don’t want to go through it again.” he hears his mother say in a shaky voice. “I won’t be able to handle it.” Jeongin doesn’t know what his mother is talking about, and therefore decides to stay for a little while to hear further what they are talking about. “I know, honey. It hurts me just as much as it hurts you, you know that.” his father’s voice sounds much more stable than his mother’s, but Jeongin can tell that he is upset as well. “I just don’t want anything to happen to Jeongin.” his mother cries silently, and upon hearing his name Jeongin decides to head up the stairs to his room again. “It won’t, darling. It won’t.” he hears his father console his mother, and before Jeongin can hear his mother response he closes the door behind him.

As Jeongin cleans his room he cannot help but to think about what his parents could have been talking about. Go through what again? What was it that they had gone through that hurt them so badly? Jeongin barely wants to think about it, the images he creates in his head are way too graphic. Yet the thoughts spawned without him wanting them to. Why does his mum think something is going to happen to him? Why is she so scared? And of what?

Jeongin takes a break from cleaning, and sits down in the middle of the floor, on his fluffy grey rug. He starts picking the frills and notices that his wand is burried within it. He picks it up and graces the alder wood with his fingers, remembering back in June when him and his parents had been going shopping for school supplies after Jeongin had recieved his letter to Hogwarts.

It had been a sunny day, but it was rather cold for a day in June. Jeongin had been so excited about his letter, as he had always envied his father and his ability to do magic. And now he was going to get taught himself. Of course, his father had tried to teach him before, but since Jeongin didn’t have his own wand he had to borrow his father’s. When Jeongin had tried to use the charm “Wingardium Leviosa” on a pencil, he had been greatly dissapointed by the result. All he managed to do was make the pencil roll down from the table where it was laid, and land on the floor.

Jeongin remembered how he had started crying, thinking that he wasn’t a wizard, and that he was useless for not being able to do magic like his father. His dad had then wrapped his arm around his son’s shoulder and squeezed him tight. “Jeongin-ah,” his father had said in a soothing voice. “You aren’t useless, you’re just not trained enough. Magic is hard, and you will get your letter to Hogwarts, I’m sure of it.” Jeongin had continued to cry. “How can you be sure, dad? I can’t even do a simple spell, why would they want me at Hogwarts?” his father had sat down on a chair, and lifted his son up into his lap, wiping the tears away from his small face. “You are good at magic, Jeongin-ah. You just haven’t gotten your own wand yet. This one,” his father says and hold up his own wand. “This wand is of ash wood, and do you know what they say about ash wood, Jeongin-ah?” Jeongin had shaken his head, staring at the wand that had betrayed him.

“They say that a wand made of ash wood only cleaves to its one true owner, and if passed on it will lose its powers, especially when the core is of unicorn hair. Can you guess what core my wand has, Jeongin?” Jeongin sniffled, and pushed up his glasses. “Unicorn hair.” he had said quietly. “That’s right, my boy. Now, go ahead and see if your mother needs help with the cooking.” his father had smiled and ruffled his hair, urging him to go into the kitchen to his mother.

 

Four years later, Jeongin had gotten his letter from Hogwarts, much to his delight. He hadn’t even read through the letter completely before he ran into the garden where his parents were harvesting potato. “Mum! Dad! I got it! I got the letter!” he had exclaimed, running down the garden so that soil went splashing everywhere. “Of course you did, my baby.” Jeongin’s mum had answered in a soft voice, and hugged her son. “Let me have a look.” his father had said. Jeongin had given the letter to his father, and listened to him as he read the letter out loud.

“Dear Yang Jeongin.” he had read. “We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. We await your owl no later than July 31. Yours sincerely Park Jinyoung, Headmaster.”

His father had looked up at Jeongin after reading the letter, and given him a big, bright smile. “Didn’t I tell you that you’re a wizard, Jeongin-ah?” His father had handed the letter back, and given his son a tight hug. “Now, let’s go in and celebrate with a glass of Lemonade, shall we?”

 

Every time Jeongin looks back at that memory he swears he can still taste the tart drink on his lips. It was the best day of Jeongin’s life, never had he felt as happy as he had been that day. The day him and his parents went shopping for school supplies was also a memory he held dear. That day had not been as sunny as the day he had gotten his letter, but it had still been warm enough for Jeongin to only wear a pair of shorts and a t-shirt.

The streets had been full of kids and parents going shopping for the upcoming school year. Jeongin was in awe as him and his parents walked down Diagon Alley’s busy street. His father had taken the lead as he knew where everything was located. The first stop they had made was Ollivander’s Wand Shop, and it had also been the place Jeongin was most excited about going to. He had waited so long to get his own wand, and the day was finally there. Jeongin had walked past his dad and pushed the door open to the shop, hearing a small bell ring as he entered. Jeongin remembered how dark it was in there, and how he had been a little frightened at first. Jeongin has always had a fear of darkness, but he doesn’t know where it came from, or why he’s so afraid of it.

Jeongin had looked back at his parents, unsure of whether or not the shop was open. His father had given him an encouraging nod and put his hand on Jeongin’s shoulder, nudging him forward towards the desk. “Hello?” his dad had called out. Jeongin remembers how he could hear some rattling from behind the tall shelves behind the desk, and out had an old man, with crazy white hair and piercing blue eyes, come. “Well, well, well,” the old man had said, looking at Jeongin with a surprisingly wide smile. “Isn’t it Yang Jeongin? I’ve been expecting you.”

“Good day, ahjusshi.” Jeongin had said shyly and bowed down, making the old man smile even bigger, even though Jeongin had thought it was impossible for him to smile any wider than he already had done. “Hanbin-ah, pleasure to see you again.” the man had continued, and looked up at Jeongin’s father. “You’ve met eachother?” Jeongin asked, looking back at his father. “Oh, yes, I remember when I sold your father his wand.” the man said. “A great one. Ash wood, core of unicorn hair, twelve inches.” the man stared distantly, nodding his head slowly, it had freaked Jeongin out a little bit, thinking it looked like he was possessed, or simply not there.

“Indeed, a great one.” Jeongin’s father had said in agreement, causing the man to snap out of the seemed trance. “And now it’s time for Jeongin-ah to get his own wand.” his father continued, patting Jeongin’s shoulder and nudging him forward towards the man. “Yes, yes.” the man had mumbled. He took a long look at Jeongin before disappearing behind the shelves, with a finger up to signal Jeongin to wait. He had come back with a thin rectangular box, and placed it on the desk in front of Jeongin. “Beech wood, dragon heartstring core, ten inches.” the man, who Jeongin just then realised must be Ollivander, had said. “Come on, give it a twirl.”

Jeongin picked up the white wand and waved it in front of himself. “Oh no!” Jeongin had bursted out as he broke the glass to one of the cabinets in the shop. He quickly put the wand down into its box, not wanting to cause anymore damage to the store. “I’m sorry, ahjusshi.” he had apologised quietly. Ollivander had not seemed to notice him, though, nor had he seemed angry about the incident, instead he had mumbled something incoherent before returning back behind the shelves, with the Beech wand in his hand.

He had returned with yet another box, this time with a wand slightly longer than the first one, and with a greyish brown colour to it. “This,” Ollivander had said, placing the wand down in front of Jeongin. “This wand is made from Alder wood, Unicorn hair core, eleven and a quarter inches.” Jeongin had assumed he was supposed to do the same with that wand as he had done with the previous one, and reached down to pick it up. As he had done so a gust of wind seemed to sweep through the room, and the dark shop suddenly became bright as day.

“Hm, yes. That’s what I thought.” Ollivander had mumbled to himself. Jeongin had looked around the room, trying to find the damage he had caused, but everything seemed intact, besides the broken glass from before. “Wh-what happened?” he had asked, looking from his father to Ollivander. “That, my son.” his father had said, and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Was your wand choosing you as its master.” Jeongin looked down at the dark wand in his hand. “My wand?” Jeongin remembers how he had asked in astoundment. His mum had walked forward, Jeongin had almost forgotten that she was there at the time, and given him a kiss on the cheek. “Let me have a look.” she had said. Jeongin placed the wand, his wand, in her hand and watched as his mum had twisted and turned the wand in her hands. When she gave the wand back to her son she had given him a wide smile. “It’s beautiful, Jeongin-ah.” she had said. “I’m so proud of you.”

They had left the store after his father had paid for Jeongin’s wand, and Jeongin had been so happy about finally getting his own wand. It seemed so surreal to him. He wanted to hold the wand in his hand as he continued down the street, but his mother had told him to put it back into its box so it wouldn’t break, and so he had done. “Where to now, dad?” Jeongin had asked, almost skipping down where he was walking inbetween his parents. “Let’s go buy you the books that will be necessary for your first year.”

 

“Jeongin-ah!” he heard his mum yell from downstairs, causing him to break from his thoughts. “Yes, mum?” he called back, standing up from where he was still sat on his grey rug in his room. “We have to leave now. The train leaves at eleven.” Jeongin looks around his room, throwing down the last things before closing his luggage. Just as he is about to head down the stairs he remembers his toad. “Oh, I’m sorry Bob.” he apologises and picks up his toad. With his toad in one hand, and his luggage in the other one, he runs down the stairs to pack everything into their small red car. As he sits down in the backseat, watching his father sit down behind the wheel, his mum beside him in the front seat, it really hits him. He’s going to Hogwarts.


	2. The Hogwarts Express

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter Jeongin is on his way to Hogwarts. Stepping onto the train, he is nervous and alone, until he meets three boys who will become his best friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had this chapter done for quite some time, but I've procrastinated uploading it bc I don't know if I like it. Anyhow, I felt like I needed (and wanted) to upload so here you go. Enjoy!

“Have a fun year, sweetie.” Jeongin’s mum says as she pulls him in for a tight hug. “Don’t forget to send us letters. We will be expecting owls.” Jeongin nods, and pulls away from his mum’s embrace. “Of course, mum.” His mum smiles at him, and pulls out a tissue from her pocket, wiping her tears with it. Jeongin knows she is feeling overwhelmed by everything. Not only is this her first time sending her child off to a school so far away, but it is also her first time experiencing how wizarding schools work, so Jeongin understands that it’s overwhelming. Of course, Jeongin hasn’t experienced this before either, but he has grown up with magic his whole life, whereas his mum grew up in the muggle world, and didn’t know about magic until she met Jeongin’s father.

The loud whistle from the train interrupts their moment, and a voice, which Jeongin assumes comes from the train conductor, calls out. “Train to Hogwarts! Train to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry leaving in ten minutes! Everyone aboard the train to Hogwarts, leaving in ten minutes!”

“I guess I better go.” Jeongin announces, looking at his parents. “You’re right, son, you’ll do great. I’m sure of it.” his dad says, being able to tell so easily that Jeongin was nervous. Jeongin was never one with a poker face. He has always been easy to read. “Come here, my baby.” his mum sniffles, and pulls him in for a tight embrace. “I love you. I love you so much, Jeongin-ah.” Jeongin mumbles back a quiet “I love you too.” before breaking free from her grip. He turns to his dad, and gives him a quick hug as well, before picking up his luggage and heading towards the train. He takes a deep breath before walking up the stairs, and before he walks to find a vacant compartment to settle down in, he turns around to look at his parents one last time.

His dad is holding his wife in a tight embrace, caressing her hair soothingly as she is crying. They wave at him, with big smiles on their faces. Jeongin takes yet another deep breath, suddenly his stomach starts churning. It was now it really hit him that he wasn’t going to see his parents until Christmas. It was his first time being away from his parents for such a long period of time.

Jeongin waves back, swallowing the lump in his throat. As he is about to turn around and search for a compartment he bumps into a girl, almost making him fall over, but he manages to find his balance. “Watch it, kid.” she snaps, pushing him to the side, causing him to crash into the wall of the train. “Sorry.” Jeongin mumbles, rubbing his sore arm as he watches the girl strut away. Jeongin can’t help but to stare at her for a while. He can’t understand why she had reacted in such an explosive way when it clearly wasn’t Jeongin’s intention to bump into her.

“Don’t mind her, she’s always like that.” Jeongin hears a voice say from behind him, he turns around to see a boy smiling at him. He has dark brown wavy hair and pierced ears. Jeongin notices that the boy has dimples when he smiles, which he finds endearing. “Oh, okay.” Jeongin mumbles and nods understandingly, but was too nervous to say anything else to the boy, so instead he just observed him. He noticed that the dimpled boy was already wearing his robes, and Jeongin could tell by the colours of his tie that he was a Gryffindor.

“I’m Chan, by the way.” the Gryffindor says. “I suppose this is your first year, yeah? I haven’t seen you before.” he continues. Jeongin notices that the boy, Chan, was trying to make him relax by being friendly, but Jeongin feels weird. He can’t really place his finger on it, but there is something about Chan that feels familiar, but he doesn’t know what it is. “What compartment are you in?” Chan continues, despite Jeongin not answering his previous question, or saying anything at all, for that matter. “I haven’t found a vacant one yet.” Jeongin admits, clutching his luggage a little tighter, hoping that Chan wouldn’t notice how Jeongin’s legs had started quivering.

“Oh, well, in that case,” Chan says with a smile, and places an arm around Jeongin’s shoulder. “You can sit with us.” Before Jeongin has a chance to object Chan starts leading him down the train with a brisk pace, silently humming to himself. Jeongin finds it kind of weird that Chan is singing to himself in public, but he doesn’t mind, he finds it rather soothing. “Here we are!” Chan announces and pushes the compartment door aside. Inside Jeongin sees two other Gryffindor boys sitting, both eerily familiar in the same way Chan is, but Jeongin tries to push it aside. One of the boys has black hair parted in the middle, and the other boy has really blond hair, so blond that it could pass as white. They look to be younger than Chan, but they don’t look as nervous nor as clueless as Jeongin feels, so he guesses that they aren’t first years, like himself.

“Guys, this is- uh” Chan points at Jeongin, but trails once he realises that he doesn’t know Jeongin’s name. “Sorry mate, I didn’t catch your name.” Jeongin looks over at Chan with a puzzled look, never had he heard the term “mate” before, nonetheless he responds with his name. “I didn’t tell you my name.” Jeongin adds after he introduces himself to Chan, feeling as if he has to make sure Chan doesn’t feel bad for not knowing his name.

“Alright. Guys, this is Jeongin.” Chan nods and looks back at the two boys. “Jeongin, this is Felix,” Chan says and points to the boy with the blond hair. “And this boy, who looks like a squirrel, is Han.” Jeongin lets out a small laugh, realising that the boy with the black hair, Han, actually does look a little bit like a squirrel. “Hey.” Han says, waving at Jeongin with a small smile on his face. “Hello.” Jeongin nods courteously at Felix and Han, but doesn’t move from where he stands in Chan’s grip. “Jeongin doesn’t have anywhere to sit, so I told him that he can join us, you guys don’t mind, do you?” Chan explains to his two friends, who, upon hearing Chan’s explanation, quickly shakes their heads and tells Jeongin that he’s welcome to share the compartment with them.

“You can sit here, next to me.” Han says, patting the seat beside him. “I promise, I don’t bite.” he smiles kindly at Jeongin, and scoots over to make more room for him. Jeongin hesitates for a moment before deciding to sit down next to Han, thinking that there might not be a vacant compartment left for him to sit in, and he doesn’t want to risk having to share a compartment with that rude girl from before. “I don’t think I’ve seen you before, Jeongin, what house are you in?” Felix asks, his brown eyes wandering curiously over Jeongin’s face. “I haven’t been sorted into a house yet, this is my first year.” Jeongin explains, feeling a bit embarrassed by the fact that he hasn’t got a house yet, when the other three boys already do.

“That explains it, then!” Felix exclaims, throwing his arms out. “Are you excited, Jeongin-ah? What house do you think you’ll get sorted into? What house do you want to get sorted into? What subject are you most looking forward to? Do you want to play Quidditch?” Felix bombards Jeongin with all sorts of questions, and Jeongin doesn’t have the time to answer before Felix asks yet another question. He is clearly very enthusiastic about Hogwarts, Jeongin can tell.

“Oi, Felix.” Chan says from where he sits next to Felix. “Calm down, will ya? You’re scaring him.” Jeongin gets, yet again, confused by the choice of words leaving Chan’s mouth. “Oi” was yet another word Jeongin was unfamiliar with, and he couldn’t help but wonder why Chan spoke so differently from him, and everyone he had talked to in his whole entire life, for that matter. “Ah, sorry, mate.” Felix apologises, leaning over across the compartment to pat Jeongin on the knee. Jeongin, upon hearing Felix using the term “mate” as well, can’t help but to wonder if everyone at Hogwarts speaks like that, and if so, why hasn’t his dad said anything about it?

“My whole family thinks I’ll get sorted into Hufflepuff, which I can see makes sense because we have been sorted into Hufflepuff for centuries, but I’m not so sure.” Jeongin explains, hoping they won’t won’t jump him for not being a Gryffindor. To his relief, though, they all just nod understandingly. “What makes you think you won’t get sorted into Hufflepuff?” Han asks, earning a slap from Felix who practically throws himself across the compartment just to hurt his friend. “Jisung, dude, you can’t just ask him that! It might be too personal!”

Han, who’s cradling his sore knee, shoots Felix a sharp look. “I told you not to call me that anymore.” he hisses, and before Felix can open his mouth to say something again, Chan steps in, putting himself inbetween the two. “Guys, stop it. There’s no need to fight.” he says with a sigh. Jeongin wonders if this is something that happens often, but doesn’t ask. “It’s fine.” Jeongin reassures them. “I don’t know why I feel like I won’t end up getting sorted into Hufflepuff. It’s just a feeling, I guess.” Jeongin shrugs, looking out the window. It is now that he realises that the train has long left the the station, and that they are now surrounded by green acres and tall trees.

“You’ll be fine, Jeongin-ah.” Chan says, trying to soothe him. “What about your friends?” Jeongin tears his gaze away from the window and looks over at Chan, hesitating for a short moment. “I don’t have any.” his answer was short, and he didn’t mean for it to come out so dismal, but he can instantly tell that it makes Chan feel uncomfortable. Chan quickly wipes the expression off his face and replaces it with a bright smile, showing off those dimples Jeongin had noticed earlier. “Well, we are your Hyungs now, Jeongin-ah. Don’t you worry.” Jeongin smiles coyly and pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose, feeling grateful for his new friends, and how kind the are to him.

“What year are you guys in?” Jeongin asks, trying to steer the attention away from himself. “I’m in year five now, and these two are just about to start their second year.” Chan explains. “So they are quite new to this as well.” Jeongin nods, he wants to ask more questions, but he is afraid that they will get annoyed with him, or even laugh at him, so he decides not to.

“Do you boys want anything?” Jeongin hears a voice from the entrance, he turns his head to see an old lady pushing a trolley full of candy in front of her. Jeongin was about to open his mouth to say “no thank you”, but didn’t have the time to do so before Felix and Han both shot up and screamed “yes” in unison.

“I must have, like, ten chocolate frogs.” Han says. “atleast.” Felix looks at him, shaking his head. “Save some for the rest of us, will you?” It’s now Han’s turn to shake his head. “No, I must collect all the cards, Felix. I know you aren’t as serious of a collector as me, but _I_ must have them all.” They are now both standing by the trolley, pushing and nudging each other to get what they want. “That’s not fair! You got a head start of several years!” Felix exclaims. “It’s not my fault you’re muggle born!” Han scoffs, taking Jeongin by surprise. He gets anxious, fearing that Felix will get offended, but soon realises that it isn’t something Han said to try and shame him in any way. It must’ve only been something Jeongin was brought up thinking was looked down upon.

“Channie Hyung, do you want anything?” Felix asks, holding onto his three boxes of chocolate frogs he managed to steal from Han. “Uhm, yeah, some Bertie Bott’s Every Flavoured Beans would be sweet as.” Jeongin furrows his eyebrows, once again hearing a phrase he was unfamiliar with. Before he could delve deeper into his thoughts he heard his name be called by Felix. “Jeongin-ah, do you want anything?” he asks, pointing to the trolley. “No, thank you. I’m fine.” Jeongin smiles politely, shaking his head no. Felix shrugs and turns to pay for all the sweets, only to realise that he hasn’t got enough money to pay for everything.

“Uh, Hyung, would you mind lending me some money? I’m three sickles short.” Felix asks hesitantly, to which Chan sighs and stands up from his seat, walking up to the trolley himself. He reaches into his pockets and pulls out some coins, ending up paying for everything, despite Felix’s and Han’s objections. They sit down again, Felix and Han having their hands full of chocolate frogs. It doesn’t take long before they begin to tear open the boxes to see what cards they got. Jeongin watches in astonishment as they barely acknowledge the chocolate frogs themselves, only caring for the cards inside. Jeongin sees Felix eat one chocolate frog, but the rest are quick to hop away to disappear to who knows where.

“Oh, woah!” Han exclaims, holding up one of the cards he just got. “I got Park Jinyoung!” Felix, who was examining his own cards, now leaped forward to look at his friend’s card. “No, way!” The two boys then proceeded to fight over the card, stealing it from eachother and trying to hide it. While Han and Felix are fighting over Jinyoung, Chan gets up from his seat to sit down next to Jeongin. “Bean?” he asks, holding out the colourful box of candy to Jeongin. “Pardon?” Joengin leans forward, having troubles hearing what Chan is saying while the two second years are fighting over the card. Chan laughs, shaking his head. “Do you want some?” he says, shaking the box of candy in front of Jeongin. “Oh.” Jeongin looks down at the candy, contemplating whether or not he’s going to take one. “Thank you.” he finally says, picking up a slightly golden bean. He pops it into his mouth, and starts chewing carefully, fearing he might get the worst flavour of them all; vomit.

“What’d you get?” Chan asks Jeongin, placing a red bean on his tongue before starting to chew it. “Envelope glue.” Jeongin answers bitterly, swallowing the candy to try and get rid of the taste. “You?” Just as Chan is about to answer Jeongin he starts to cough violently. He begins to hit his chest in a desperate attempt to stop himself, but it doesn’t seem to work. Jeongin doesn’t know what to do, or what happened to him in the first place, so all he does is sit still and watch Chan as he tries to collect himself. After a good minute of coughing, Chan finally manages to catch his breath, wiping away the tears from his eyes. “Chili.” he answers with a laugh, causing Jeongin to erupt into a grin. “Unfortunate.” Chan nods in agreement, and puts away the box. He sniffles and wipes his runny nose with the sleeve of his robe as he turns back to look at Jeongin, who’s attention is now caught by Han and Felix who are still fighting over the cards.

“Are they always like this?” Jeongin asks without drawing the attention away from the two. “Most of the time.” Chan chuckles. “They are both very loud. Always.” Jeongin nods and turns back to look at Chan. He wants to ask him more, but he doesn’t know if Chan would be so open to answer all of his questions. “Got something on your mind, Jeongin-ah?” Chan asks, as if he could’ve read what Jeongin was thinking. Jeongin quickly glances away from Chan, and looks around the room to avoid eye contact. It flabbergasted him how easily Chan was able to read him after they’ve only just met. “It’s fine, you can ask me.” Chan places a comforting hand on Jeongin’s shoulder and squeezes it lightly. Jeongin turns to look at Chan.

“Why did Felix call Han ‘Jisung’? And why doesn’t Han want to be called that?” he asks carefully. He awaits Chan’s response anxiously. Jeongin feels as if he might’ve crossed some kind of line by asking about Han, because Chan doesn’t respond at first. Instead he purses his lips and looks over at Han, who is currently trying to take his card back from Felix who’s waving his wand towards him in an attempt to protect himself. “His name is Han Jisung.” Chan finally says, looking back at Jeongin. Jeongin lets out a deep breath he didn’t know he was holding in, and feels how the anxious feeling slowly drifts away. “Why doesn’t he want to be called Jisung?” he continues. Jeongin sees how the corners of Chan’s mouth twitches and once again he starts doubting himself. “He doesn’t really mind it, but he prefers being called Han nowadays. He says it’s because he likes that part of his name better than Jisung, but I don’t know.”

Jeongin nods, and prepares himself to ask his next question about the strange vocabulary Felix and Chan uses, but just as he’s about to open his mouth the door to the compartment slides open. All the boys simultaneously turn their heads towards the girl with ashy brown hair who opened the door. Jeongin recognises the girl he bumped into earlier. She’s standing with her hands placed onto the frames of the door, looking at them with a face Jeongin could only describe as disgust. “You boys better get ready, because we are almost there now.” she looks over at Jeongin, and glances him up and down. “And _you_ should probably change into your robes. You wouldn’t want to get in trouble on your first day, now would you?” 

“No, of course not. I’m sorry.” Jeongin mumbles, and gets up to get his robes out from his luggage. “Thank you, Wendy.” he hears Chan say in a bitter voice, and with that the girl, Wendy, was gone. But she didn’t leave without slamming the door shut behind her first, making Felix and Han jump in their seats. “Jesus.” Felix breathes. “She really is something, isn’t she.” Chan sighs and shakes his head. “She sure is.” He looks up at Jeongin who is struggling to carry down his luggage without falling over. “Let me help you with that, Jeongin-ah.” Chan says and hurries up to take Jeongin’s bag from his hands.


	3. The Sorting Ceremony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter Jeongin finally reaches Hogwarts, and gets sorted into his house. Despite how nervous and shy Jeongin is he manages to make two new friends, one seeming to be very keen on bothering him, while the other one brings Jeongin safety and comfort by making him feel welcome.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, uh, I haven't uploaded since June? July? idk. This chapter was actually written over a month ago, but I didn't feel like uploading it as I don't really like it lol.
> 
> If you've been waiting for me to update this fic, thank you! I hope you enjoy this long awaited chapter!  
> And if you're finding this fic after I've uploaded this chapter, welcome! thank you for clicking, I appreciate it, and I hope you enjoy it! If you do, please don't hesitate to drop a Kudos, it lets me know that people like what I write, and motivates me to continue.
> 
> Hopefully I won't go on a hiatus for several months again, but I can't promise anything lol school is being a bih

The train has now come to its stop, and it was time for Jeongin to say goodbye to his three new friends. “We’ll see you later, yeah?” Chan says, giving Jeongin’s shoulder a light nudge with his fist. Jeongin nods, feeling his legs tremble underneath him. On the train Han and Felix had told Jeongin about what happened during their sorting ceremony last year, and what they had said made Jeongin even more nervous than he already was before.

Apparently one girl, whose name Jeongin can’t remember, had fainted when she got sorted into a house different from her two older sisters, and they had had to bring in the nurse and take her to the hospital wing. They also told him about a boy who got sorted into Hufflepuff, apparently his name was Seungmin. He had forgotten to put on his robe and so when his name got called he had gone up to sit on the chair, only for the other students to start snickering and whispering to each other. The deputy headmistress had to usher the boy off the chair and tell him to go get changed before he could get sorted.

Jeongin has always been a clumsy boy, he cannot count all the times he has tripped, spilt something, dropped something, and accidentally hurt himself. His mum has always told him it’s an endearing trait, but now Jeongin wants to be everything but clumsy. He doesn’t want to make a fool of himself in front of the whole school. He doesn’t want to be recognised as the boy who tripped during the ceremony.

“Good luck, Jeongin-ah.” Han gives him a reassuring smile before they all leave, leaving Jeongin with the rest of the first years. Jeongin walks into the middle of the crowd, looking at all the kids, trying to see if he recognises anyone, but to no luck. “Okay, children. This way.” a man who’s standing in front of the crowd says, and starts walking towards the lake surrounding the school. The man is on the heavier side, his pitch black hair looking like an upside down bowl ontop of his head. He’s holding a lantern in his right hand, waving for all the kids to follow him with the other one. Jeongin follows the crowd down to the lake, where the man with the lantern instructs them to group into five, and get into one of the boats that is supposed to take them over to the other side.  
Jeongin doesn’t know where to sit, since he doesn’t know anyone in his year. Luckily a girl with long black hair tugs on Jeongin’s robe and motions for him to sit down in the boat with her and three other people. Jeongin sits down quietly, and looks at the other kids seated in the boat. There are two girls and three boys, Jeongin included, and he doesn’t recognise anyone. The other kids, however, seems to know each other and are all having lively discussions. It’s like Jeongin isn’t even there.

“What’s your name?” the girl with the long black hair asks Jeongin, startling him slightly, as he’s gotten used to being invisible to the other kids, and of course, he is also very shy. “M-me?” Jeongin points at himself, causing the girl to laugh slightly and nod. “Yes, you.” Jeongin buries his hands inside the sleeves of his robe, and clears his throat before speaking. “Jeongin.” he says quietly. “I’m Somi.” the girl says with a smile. “Nice to meet you, Somi.” Jeongin bows slightly, giving Somi a coy smile.

Jeongin sees how Somi opens her mouth to say something to him, but her friend beside her nudges her shoulder. “Somi, who’s that guy with the lantern?” the boy next to her asks, pointing to the guy who led them down to the boats. “Oh, that’s Shindong.” she says. “He’s the key keeper and caretaker of Hogwarts. He can be quite mean so I wouldn’t push his buttons.” her friend nods understandingly and turns back to talk to his other friends. Jeongin sits and looks at Somi, expecting her to continue to say whatever she wanted to say before her friend interrupted her, but she just looks back at Jeongin once she notices that he’s staring, and gives him a small smile before she turns her attention to her friends.

Jeongin spends the rest of the boat ride listening to the four kids in the boat, and looking at his surroundings, despite barely being able to see anything in the darkness. Jeongin learns that Somi has two older siblings who are already students at Hogwarts, hence why she knows a lot more about the school than the rest of them. Another thing Jeongin learns is that it seems as if the kids looks down upon Hufflepuff, calling the pupils in that house “dim” and “boring”. Yet another reason for Jeongin to not speak or interact with the rest of the kids in the boat.

Once they reach land, Jeongin is quick to jump off the boat, and join the other kids where they are regrouping in front of the main entrance of the school. Jeongin notices that there is a woman standing in front of the grande door, waiting for all the kids to get off their boats. She has long blonde hair, and looks rather young. “Okay, kids, welcome to Hogwarts.” she says once everyone has gathered around her. “My name is Jessi, and I am the headmistress of Hogwarts. Tonight you are all going to get sorted into your respective houses, I expect you all to behave during the ceremony, and once you have gotten sorted into your house you should go directly to that house’s table.”

Jeongin can feel his heart stop when listening to the instructions, only for it to start beating faster with each second that passes. It wouldn’t surprise Jeongin if everyone around him could hear the sound his heart was making, as he, himself, hears the beat of his heart like a wardrum in his ears. With a whiny creek the entrance opens up, and they all start walking towards the great hall, where the ceremony is going to take place. Once they enter Jeongin feels the air getting knocked out of his lungs. The room is much bigger than Jeongin had anticipated, despite its name, and he can’t help but to feel like all eyes are on him.

All the older students are already seated by the tables belonging to their houses, and Jeongin manages to spot Chan, Han and Felix sitting with the rest of the Gryffindors. Not that it was hard for him to do so, since the three boys were practically jumping in their seats, frantically waving at Jeongin with grins stretching from ear to ear. Jeongin feels his face heating up, getting a feeling that the three Gryffindors are bringing him more attention from the other students than he was already getting. He lifts his hand slightly and waves slowly, smiling back at his newfound friends, while Jessi continues to lead them further into the room.

The ceremony starts not long after they reach the other end of the room, where all the teachers are sitting by a long table, facing the students. Jeongin watches with great nervousity, and inquivisity, as student after student walks up to sit down onto the chair, where the hat is placed ontop of their head. He knows his name won’t be called any time soon, but he can’t decide whether that’s a good thing or not.

“Yang, Jeongin.” he hears Jessi call his name from the long scroll she is holding in front of her. Jeongin feels the blood in his veins run cold as he cautiously looks around the room. Perhaps there is another Yang Jeongin in the crowd. He soon realises that there is not much of a crowd left. There are only about a dussin of first years left to be sorted into their new houses, and it was now Jeongin’s turn. He looks down and notes that he’s wearing his uniform, before he begins to walk up to the headmistress standing by the chair, feeling his knees wobble and everyone’s eyes burning into his back. _“Please don’t trip. Please don’t trip.”_ Jeongin repeats to himself, like a mantra. Luckily he manages to sit down without making a fool of himself. With his heartbeat thumping in his ears, he feels Jessi put the sorting hat ontop of his head.

“Another Yang, I see.” Jeongin hears the hat say with a chuckle. “You aren’t much different to your relatives. Tell me, son, do you reckon you belong in the same house as your family?” the hat asks. Jeongin feels quite cornered by the question, and doesn’t know what to answer. Is there a wrong answer to the question? What happens if he gets it wrong? Will he be sent home again, with a letter explaining to his parents that he is banished from Hogwarts and all magic due to his lack of intelligence and ability to answer simple questions? There is no way of telling, and so Jeongin makes a guess:

“Y-yes?” he stutters with uncertainty. He then begins to ramble, feeling like he has to explain himself in order to justify his place at Hogwarts. “I don’t feel like I would fit into any of the other houses, I mean. I am not very brave, I’m not intelligent or creative, and I’m not that ambitious and shrewd. I’m just…” he pauses for a second, and lowers his voice. “Me.”

“Very well. You truly are like your relatives. Best it be,” the hat says, dragging out on the final decision. “Hufflepuff!” he announces loudly, making the table where all other Hufflepuffs are seated stand up and cheer for their new housemate. Jeongin feels the hat get lifted from his head, marking his cue to go to his new house. He stands up on his jelly-like legs and starts walking towards the black and yellow clad students with bright smiles on their faces, his mind continuing to repeat the mantra from earlier. Several people wants to shake Jeongin’s hand as he approaches the table, to which Jeongin accept by taking their hand and bowing shyly.

“It’s Jeongin, right?” the boy, whose hand he just shook, asks. Jeongin looks up at him. His black hair, dark as ink, is covering his forehead, his soft brown eyes are crinkled because of the soft smile resting on his lips. Jeongin thinks he looks kind, and doesn’t doubt the fact that the boy is a Hufflepuff. The boy has a very friendly face with soft features, making Jeongin feel as though he wanted to give him a tight embrace. The type of embrace you would give your teddy bear as a kid. Bear. That’s what the boy looks like. He looks like a soft bear.

“Yes.” Jeongin says, smiling back at the bear-like boy. “Pleasure to meet you, Jeongin. I’m Woojin.” Woojin proceeds to scoot over and motion for Jeongin to sit down next to him, which he does. Jeongin can see why Woojin was sorted into Hufflepuff just by observing how he talks and acts towards the other students around the table. He is naturally caring, and makes the first years feel welcome, and even the most nervous ones seems to be calmed down by Woojin’s soft smile, Jeongin included. Jeongin begins to feel his muscles relaxing, and his trembling hands gets more stable every minute that passes.

The sorting ceremony is now over, and Jessi has just begun the feast. Jeongin looks at the long table with eyes wide as globes. He has never seen this much food in his life before. A low rumble erupting from his stomach makes him realise just how hungry he is, but his hands remains in his lap. Woojin seems to notice the first year beside him who does nothing but stare at the chicken in front of him.

“You okay, Jeongin-ah?” he asks, genuinely concerned. Everyone else has already eating, but not this raven haired boy by his side. “Aren’t you hungry?” he follows, tilting his head to the side to try and get Jeongin’s attention.

“Oh, I am.” Jeongin says quietly, the corners of his mouth twitching, hinting a small nervous smile. “Then why aren’t you eating?” Woojin finally manages to lock eyes with Jeongin as he turns his head towards him, pushing up those round glasses of his. “I-I didn’t know I could.” Jeongin states, his voice low and uncertain. “Of course you can!” Woojin exclaims, and reaches out to take two chicken drumsticks and lay them onto Jeongin’s empty plate.

“Thank you, Woojin Hyung.” Jeongin bows his head shyly, but restrains himself from sinking his braces-clad teeth into the tender chicken in front of him. He waits yet another minute before he finally chews a big chunk from one of the drumsticks. Jeongin lets out a deep sigh, feeling his taste buds tingling as they recognise the taste of the meat.

“It’s good, right?” Woojin says with a smile. “I love chicken.” Jeongin nods and takes his napkin to wipe the grease off his mouth. “Me too.” Jeongin agrees, returning Woojin’s smile. Woojin proceeds to turn away from Jeongin as another student calls his name, but Jeongin doesn’t mind. He continues to eat from the plates of food in front of him as he takes in the sight of the grande room, now that he has calmed down he realises how beautiful it is.

The room is lit by thousands of candles that are floating midair and when Jeongin looks up he can see the deep blue sky, dotted with stars, twinkling down at him. He takes a moment to look at the students from the three other houses. In front of Jeongin he sees people dressed in red and gold ties, and robes with red fabric on the inside, Gryffindor. Jeongin couldn’t spot Chan, Felix or Han from where he sat, as they were too far away, but he could hear them above the buzz of the students chatting, and silverware clattering against the plates. Looking behind him, he spots Ravenclaw, and behind the Ravenclaws the Slytherins were seated.

Jeongin has always had great respect for Slytherin. He knows that they can get pretty nasty if you get in their way, and their cunning ways of getting to the top will surely knock Jeongin down if he happens to be an obstacle. He makes a promise to himself that he is going to careful around those emerald snakes. Never disrespect them, and never steal their thunder.

As Jeongin is staring at two dark haired boys sitting by the Slytherin table he feels a soft nudge on his shoulder. He turns his head and sees Woojin smiling down at him. “Jeongin-ah.” he says. “I want to introduce you to a friend of mine.” Jeongin nods and follows Woojin’s gaze as it turns to a boy sitting opposite to the older Hufflepuff. “Jeongin, I would like to introduce you to Seungmin.” Woojin introduces the boy with brown hair. “Seungmin, meet Jeongin. He’s taking over your place as the lost, litte first year.”

“I see.” Seungmin looks at Jeongin with a grin. “Pleasure to meet you, Jeongin.” he stretches out his hand and shakes it with Jeongin’s. Jeongin recognises the name from when Han had told him about the incident Seungmin had had last year when getting sorted into his house. “Pleasure to meet you too, Seungmin.” he smiles at the older boy.

Seungmin then turns to Woojin. “Hyung, I see you became a prefect this year. How does it feel?” Jeongin turns to look at Woojin and spots the yellow badge on the left side of his robe reading “Prefect” within the golden banner that goes across the badge itself. “It feels great!” Woojin exclaims, a wide smile spreading across his face. “This is what I’ve always wanted, you know? Helping little kids, like yourself and Innie-” Woojin stops mid sentence to turn to Jeongin. “Is it okay if I call you ‘Innie’?” Jeongin feels his cheeks heating up upon hearing the nickname Woojin just gave him, but he nods in approval. “Okay, great.” Woojin smiles, but just as he opens his mouth to continue talking about his new role as a prefect, a loud screech is heard, coming from the table in front of them.

Every student and teacher goes silent as their heads turn to where the shrill noise came from. Several students stands up from their seat to get a better look at what’s going on, and when Jeongin sees Seungmin doing the same, he, too, decides to stand up. The sight of Chan and Felix sitting opposite from each other by their table, looking down at Han with looks of displease where he lays on the floor just behind Felix, clutching his arm to his chest as he rolls around like someone who’s on fire.

“Han Jisung!” a voice calls out, sounding like a rising storm as it echoed through the room. Every student went stiff as they heard the stern voice of their Headmistress, despite their names not being called. Han, on the other hand, quickly scrambled to his feet, still clutching his right arm with his hand. “My office.” Jessi demands. “Now.”

“Yes, yeoja gyojang.” Han nods and hangs his head low. He waves slightly to Felix and Chan with his, what it seems to be, injured arm, and starts walking towards the doors with his legs dragging behind him. All students continues to look at Han as he walks out, and doesn’t stop until Han is no longer in sight. As Han disappears through the doors, the students turn their gaze towards Jessi where she is stood at the end of the room, her hands slammed down onto the table in front of her. When she sees that Han has left the room she stands up straight and pushes her long, blonde hair away from her face. “Well,” she says, her voice has calmed down slightly which Jeongin was relieved over. He would be lying if he said that Jessi didn’t intimidate him when she was angry. “I think it’s time to end the feast. I have to go and speak to the student in my office. Your prefects will lead you back to your dorms. Good night.”

All students stand up and finds their respective Prefects who leads them out of the room. Jeongin doesn’t have to look for his house’s prefect, as he’s been sitting beside him this whole time. “Okay, Hufflepuffs.” Woojin says, stretching his neck to see if everyone has found him. “Before we go back to our dorm, I want to inform our first years about the rules here at Hogwarts.” The crowd of black and yellow clad students nod understandingly and waits patiently for Woojin to finish.

“So,” Woojin says with his soft smile. “Welcome to Hufflepuff. I have tried to meet you all already during the ceremony, but if I managed to miss anyone, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Kim Woojin, but you can call me Woojin, and I am your fifth year prefect. I encourage you to come and talk to me if you have any questions or troubles. I am glad to help you.” He stops to look at all the first years to ensure them, and when he meets Jeongin’s gaze where he stands next to Seungmin at the front of the crowd, he smiles a bit wider. “I know that Hogwarts seems like a great place, and it is! But no great place comes without rules.” his expression drops drastically as the last sentence leaves his lips. Jeongin feels a knot growing inside his stomach. He looks at Seungmin to see if he is sharing Jeongin’s worry, but to Jeongin’s surprise, Seungmin’s expression tells him that he is everything but worried. He looks bored. “You can _never_ under any circumstances go into the forbidden forest.” Woojin starts listing all the rules, and they are so many, in fact, that Jeongin feels overwhelmed. There’s no way he’s going to keep track of all of these rules. “You are welcome to browse books in the library, but you can never go into the restricted section. Those books are dangerous, and therefore forbidden for all students.” he continues. “You can come and go from our dormitory as you please during the day, but no student is permitted to leave the dorms after 10 pm. Of course, we also have a no violence policy, except during duels. And lastly, you are not allowed, under any circumstances, to enter another house’s dormitory.”

Woojin takes one last glance over the crowd of first years before his face lights up in one of his bright smiles again. “Alright, let’s go to our dorm now, shall we?” he waves at them to follow him, and leads them down into the basement. Woojin leads the group through the kitchen corridor, and stops. He turns around to face the rest of the Hufflepuffs, and asks: “Does any first year know where our common room is, and how to access it?” Seungmin’s hand shot up fast as lightning. “I do! I do!” he exclaimed, jumping up and down. Woojin looks at the boy, and shakes his head. “I know that you know, Seungmin.” he says with a sigh. “You aren’t a first year. You’ve been here for a year now.”

“Exactly.” Seungmin says matter-of-factly. “No, Seungmin.” Woojin says shortly, turning away from the second year. “Does anyone- except for Seungmin- know? Any of the first years know?”

Jeongin looks around in the crowd of black and yellow, waiting for someone to raise their hand, and therefore isn’t prepared for the two hands that pushes him forward. “I nominate Jeongin-ah!” he hears Seungmin say.  “N-no,” Jeongin shakes his head, looking up at Woojin who’s smiling at him. “I don’t know how to enter the common room.” Woojin places a comforting arm around Jeongin’s shoulders and spins him around. “It’s fine, Innie. The entrance is behind these barrels, all you have to do is tap the barrel two from the bottom, middle of the second row, in the rhythm of ‘Helga Hufflepuff’. Once you do, the lid will swing open, and the passageway behind it will lead us to our common room!”

“Yeah, but be careful Jeongin.” Seungmin snickers. “If you use the wrong rythm you will be sprayed with vinegar.” Jeongin’s eyes widens, his heart races. He’s standing in the center of attention, all eyes on him, as he risks getting doused in aqueous acid solution. “Seungmin, shut up!” Woojin scolds the second year. He doesn’t sound angry doing so, but there was enough sternness in his voice for Seungmin to take a step back. “Go on, Innie.” Woojin proceeds, giving Jeongin a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

Jeogin swallows hard and takes a step forward towards the barrels. He looks at the wooden cylinders and starts to count them. _“Two from the bottom, middle of the second row.”_ he repeats Woojin’s words in his head. Before he knocks he turns his head to Woojin, pointing at the barrel he thinks is the correct one. Woojin nods and gives him a reassuring smile. “Go on.” he mouths at him. Jeongin reaches his hand out and knocks. It takes a few seconds, but it feels like a lifetime for Jeongin, before the lid finally swings open. Jeongin lets out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding in, as the group of Hufflepuffs behind him starts applauding and cheering on him. “Good job, Innie.” Woojin says before taking the lead, guiding the group through the passageway that got exposed as the lid had swung open.

The first thing Jeongin notices about the basement is how low-ceilinged it is, in contrast to the rest of Hogwarts where the ceiling is almost always very high. The basement bathes in warm sunlight, making it perfect for all the plants hanging from the ceiling and the ones standing in the windowsills of the circular windows. In the middle of the room there’s a fireplace crackling lively, surrounded by overstuffed sofas and armchairs that matches their house colours.

“Here we are.” Woojin announces. “Now, I understand that all of you must be tired and pretty much ready for bed. You will reach your dormitories through these round doors, your luggage and pets are already there waiting for you.” Woojin points to two perfectly round doors in the wall. “Good night.” The group scatters, some older students staying in the common room, as most first years proceeds to go find their dormitories. Jeongin does neither. He stands still in the same exact spot, his mind somewhere else.

“Hey,” he hears Woojin’s soft voice say behind him. “Is there something wrong, Jeongin-ah?” Jeongin snaps back into reality and looks at his hyung. “No, I’m fine. Just tired.” Jeongin smiles slightly. “Okay.” Woojin nods, his warm brown eyes still on Jeongin. “You know you can always come talk to me if you have any concerns.” Jeongin nods understandingly. “I know.”

“So, no questions?” Woojin asks, tilting his head a bit to the side. Jeongin lets out an awkward chuckle and shakes his head. “No questions.”  They say goodnight to each other, and goes separate ways, Jeongin to the door leading to his dormitory, and Woojin towards the sofa in front of the fireplace. Jeongin goes through the day in his head. It was nerve wracking, but exciting. And tomorrow would probably be even more exciting considering he’s going to learn how to do magic. Jeongin rests his hand on the brass door knocker, that serves as a handle, and turns his head back.

“Hyung?” he asks carefully. Woojin turns around and looks at him with a soft neutral face. “Yes, Innie?” he says with a voice similar to the expression on his face. “Do you happen to know what I’ll be doing tomorrow?” Jeongin asks. “Yes, Jeongin-ah.” Woojin smiles. “You’re going to attend your classes along with the other first years. I believe your first class tomorrow is Potions. The classroom is in the dungeon.” Jeongin nods, and thanks Woojin. “Good night, Woojin Hyung.” Jeongin says before entering the pathway leading to his dorm. “Good night, Jeongin-ah.”


End file.
